Top 10+ Campgrounds near Sterling, UT

The drive in past the pavement was dusty, but not horrific. The road had been graded so there a lot of rocks on the surface of the road. No washboard. Campsite was fine. Just a few trees to keep us company. Bronco towing a Lance 1475.

Great for hunt camp or family camping. Easy access to fishing and off-road excursions, hiking and photography.

Large campgrounds in area including this one. Camped in September (Doctor Creek CG up road was closed). Quiet, clean. End of tourist season and so couple of nearby stores were selling out their ice cream--Got giant couple of scoops in a bowl. For water/boaters & fishing, mainly, typically sold out during summer. Sites go in rows inching up-slope and some have nice views of lake.

Smallish beautiful campground. Site 9 but sites 4, 5, 12 good too. 1 is private but away from toilets. Nice view down the valley to Electric Lake. Decent distance to Scofield. Relatively quiet but sites are fairly close together. 

Food aside: Ate Knorr rice with chicken, spiced it up, and Hatch tortillas for dinner. Also Sprouts Hatch M&C with Wal Mart chicken packet and Old El Paso ranch sauce, both good.

Stayed in site 8, which has a shallow and uneven driveway. We used several leveling blocks which helped. Site 6 is ideal in terms of proximity to toilets and relatively level site with trees and a water tap just adjacent. There are 9 total sites, 5 are group sites so tend to be LOTS of people around. Group sites are large and are only$20/night and site 9 is roomy, relatively private and has vault toilets adjacent. Walking trails in/around campground.

Lots of families. Safe. Rather enjoyed a sing-along one night with LOTS of kids.

2nd stay (June): Stayed again for 2 nights, this time in spot 6 which is roomier than 8 and one of only a few single family campsites. Renovation installed a new picnic table and fire pit but removed the tent pad. Water tap still adjacent. 

Big family gatherings due to large family spots, across were 6 RVs in one spot and trucks parked everywhere including on the grass. Fairly quiet and respectful but dogs were allowed to run loose and while seemingly friendly, they were not supervised for pooping. This also means bathrooms were under serious strain esp re: available toilet paper.

Nearby: On Hwy 31, appear to be a variety of dispersed camping spots, most are not well marked. Some appear to have names, but not sure if they are reservable. Most are for "groups" but are typically only $20/night, some smaller group sites are only$10/night. Seem to be largely FCFS. Several have vault toilets adjacent.

Visited nearby Huntington Lake State Park, which is relatively modest in terms of facilities, basically a lake and a campground (no shade). The sites adjacent to the lake look nice (~sites 1-5) and have partial hookups but the trees are sparse. There is a trail around the lake, but it appears mainly to be a gravel road with some benches here/there.

Food aside (freeze dried packs with our own add-ons): Had Peak beef pasta marinara with italian and garlic seasoning. FQ (fart quotient) is low. Had garlic mashed and Hatch green chile mac (from Sprouts). Added pepper jerky to the mashed before water and the cheese (Mexican blend) and one packet of fajita chicken (Wal Mart, about $1.25) and some Kinder's smoked garlic into the mac when it was ready. Also crumbled some 4 cheese Triscuits on top. 

Had Mountain House freeze-dried scrambled eggs in wheat tortillas with cheese, bacon (in at finish), and pepper jerky (in with water). Two servings would have made~4 burritos. Also recommend cutting back on the water to ~2/3-3/4c. Added pepper, garlic powder to eggs. 

Had Mountain House pad thai with chicken for dinner. Didn't add sriracha seasoning but put our own smoked garlic, Wal Mart applewood smoked chicken packet and the supplied lime, peanut butter, and nuts (supplemented the nuts with our own).

Forested campsites in a narrow canyon. Busy on weekends. Got the last first served sit at 3pm Friday. Sites next to the main road. Traffic peering into the campsite. Young fit crowd. Weak cell reception.

Oak Creek is my go-to campground, whether I'm with family or solo. It's nestled in Boulder Mountain and can be easy to overlook if you're not paying attention. Experience Unblocked Games 76 right now!

Stumbled upon this small campground. 6 sites around a grassy area. Oak, maple and cottonwoods and a creek. 4 group sites and 13 more sites up canyon past group sites, some along the creek. Water, pit and flush toilets, no garbage. There was a trailer in site #1 but didn’t see anyone. Beautiful full moon rise over canyon! Quiet and peaceful but a surprising amount of traffic on the gravel road up the canyon past campground. There are more camping spots up the road. Plantation Flat is a primitive campground in a pine forest. It was full of OHV campers. Looked like they were there for awhile.

Numerous spots along the road. Some are very well shaded while others have lots of sun.

This spot is large and shaded. Rock fire pit. There’s currently fire restrictions so we didn’t have a fire but we set up a nice little sitting area around the fire with logs we found in the forested area.

There is a mama bear and cub in the area although we didn’t see her.

Weather is cooler than in Capitol Reef so it’s a nice place to recharge and escape the heat.

Lots of firewood in close vicinity so no need to bring any in with you (check for fire restrictions before).

Would definitely come back here.

If you follow the road all the way up you can access Cathedral Valley Campground (great views from up there)

Remember to pack out your garbage.

Great stop point for me driving SoCal to Boulder.

Nothing here but the aforementioned moonscape.

Arrived dusk 3Jul24 after a hasty retreat from Last Chance 8 or 10 miles west (mosquitos).  Only 2 or 3 managed to track me east at highway speed!

There was no one else here, far enough from the highway.

Pulled into the giant dirt bowl, turned right and drove until front of car was slightly elevated for my sleeping position (back of a wagon).  

Proceed with caution in inclement weather or you may get stuck.

Arrived 3Jul24 at dusk.  There is standing water marsh with a frac tank, possibly for water for the quarry above.  Got out of the car to give dog a break and within one minute was scrambling back in.  Drove up hill to the quarry and got out with dog....still very bad mosquitos but some breeze.  Hid in the car while dog was out on a long rope for a while, covered with mosquitos.  After 10 minutes I had killed most that were in the car and the ones waiting at the doors and windows were gone.  I cracked the door and began pulling dog rope to get slack in and then had dog climb over me into back seat.

We drove east one Dyrt to Miller Canyon and it was AWESOME.  I remember maybe 3 mosquitos there.

There are only two things I can compare this savagery to (and I am in my late 50s):

Alaska (Last Chance Rd dispersed is WORSE--However, note that when I was in AK I wasn't asking for trouble--I was indoors during  mosquito hours--I am sure AK has mosquitos as bad as Last Chance if you go looking)

Canada Boundary Waters Boy Scout Canoe Base (about the same at dusk--only fools wouldn't have camp totally ready to be inside tents before mosquito hours.  Mornings were fine.